The Ministry of Civil Aviation granted an exemption to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) trials for delivering vaccines with the help of drones in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur, and Nagaland. Now therefore the Central government, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Rule 48 of Drones Rules 2021, grants conditional exemption from Drone Rules 2021 to the applicant for the afore-mentioned purpose. This exemption shall be subject to terms and conditions of the said airspace clearance and shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of approval of the said airspace clearance or until furhter orders whichever is earlier — The order given by Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation read. Dubey also added in the order that ICMR has to receive approval regarding the airspace from the Airports Authority of India for flight purposes. According to Rule 48 of the Drone Rules 2021, the Union government, in a written order or by issuing special directions "exempt(s) any person or class of persons from the operation of these rules, either wholly or partially, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order." The Drone Rules 2021 which was notified recently, replacing the Unmanned Aerial Systems Rules 2021, has been praised by the industry for being more facilitating than its predecessor. The rules bring in the concept of green, yellow, and red zones for drone flights. While in…
